Bay Terrace (Queens), Queens

Infomation

Stellar waterfront views are the attraction in Bay Terrace, which overlooks the East River and Long Island Sound at the point where they meet. Long considered part of Bayside, Bay Terrace began developing its own identity when the housing development and shopping center of the same name opened in the 1950s. Today the neighborhood offers an abundance of co-op and condo apartments and an important historical sight: Fort Totten, a Civil War military base soon to be a park. The Clearview Expressway winds through Bay Terrace onto the Throgs Neck Bridge, headed for the Bronx. With no direct subway service, a Manhattan-Bay Terrace commute relying on public transportation can be tedious, but there is easy highway access if you own a car.

Top Votes – Score out of 100

Families

81%

Families 81

Public Schools 75

Safety 75

Empty nesters 73

Seniors 69

Lowest – Score out of 100

Income

16%

Quiet 50

Green space 50

Singles 25

Income 16

Public Transportation 0

Top Reviews from Travel Rentals Neighborhoods

A good place to raise a family

Despite once being one of the annoying pre-teens wandering the Bay Terrace Shopping Center on weekend nights to now working there and realizing how unappealing that really sounds, Bay Terrace is a convenient place to work, shop and dine, so long as you have a car. The commute even from Forest Hills by train and bus can take an hour, and there is plenty of walking in between. That being said, the drive can be 8 minutes on the highway with no traffic, a commute I really cannot complain about.

The shopping center is home to many stores you would expect to find there – Gap, The Children’s Place, Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle Outfitters and Express among many others; as well as a number of restaurants to please an appetite. There is also a supermarket, bank, pizzeria, hair salon, liquor store and post office – basically the one stop you’ll need to make for all of your errands.

Bay Terrace also offers excellent public schools, with P.S. 169 running an after school program through the Sam Field Y in Little Neck, with it’s office right across the street at the Bay Terrace Y and Pool Club. There is an abundance of doctors in the area, as well as a variety of housing options for every budget. From the gated Bay Bridge Community to apartment complexes to single family homes, everyone can find a place to call home.

Just a few minutes down Bell Blvd is neighboring Bayside. Between 38th Place and Northern Blvd is a wide selection of restaurants, bars and ice cream shops with municipal parking lots right around the corner. The Bayside LIRR station is also located on Bell Blvd, truly the only sensible transportation option between this area of Queens and the city.

More than anything, Bay Terrace is an excellent place to raise a family, and offers a fair amount of nightlife options for those whose parents thought they were empty-nesters but found their college graduate children moving back home after being unable to find a job.